Halloween Festivals Where the Scariest Specter Is Extinction

Photo

‘BOO AT THE ZOO’ AT THE BRONX, QUEENS AND PROSPECT PARK ZOOS Halloween promises a wild time, and few places do that better than those where wild creatures reside. Each year these zoos host weekend celebrations that educate about animals as well as entertain young humans. From 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., the Bronx Zoo offers a Haunted Forest, with both wildlife models and scary apparitions, and the Extinct Species Graveyard, a fake cemetery devoted to a real threat: vanishing creatures. Other attractions include presentations of live birds associated with Halloween, like owls, ravens and vultures, and a costume parade with stilt walkers from Alice Farley Dance Theater, above. The Queens Zoo’s festivities, also 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., include holiday treats for wildlife — meat-stuffed pumpkins, for example — and a haunted trail for people. The Prospect Park Zoo, whose “Boo” runs 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., with a Spooky Barn, is focusing on bats, whose activities are more helpful than horrifying. And who could resist a dance party alongside sea lions, which are pretty inventive movers themselves? LAUREL GRAEBER 718-367-1010, bronxzoo.com/boo; 718-271-1500, queenszoo.com; 718-399-7339, prospectparkzoo.com

Continue reading the main story